"Waking Up the Napping Executive" Shaving Cream on a 75-Year-Old Executive's Face... 1 Million Views Sensation 'Ajusshi TikTok' [Japanese Side]

Kosugi, Director of Sanyo Kogyo, and Morimoto, Advisor, from a Mid-sized Company in Hyogo, Japan
"The company should approach what young people like"
Casual communication leads to a surge in job applicants

"From now on, we will try to wake up Mr. Morimoto, who is taking a nap during lunch."

At the words "Wake up," Mr. Morimoto quickly got up, but as soon as he stood up, he buried his face in the shaving cream prepared by the production team. Mr. Morimoto is currently 75 years old and serves as an advisor to the company. Watching a video where the advisor is literally being tormented made my heart skip a beat. I also worried whether the production team could survive doing that.

These gentlemen are the stars of the recently popular "Ojisan TikTok (Uncle TikTok)" channel in Japan. The channel features 60-year-old Kosugi Yoshiaki, a director at Sanyo Kogyo in Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture, and 75-year-old advisor Morimoto Kenji. They break the authority of corporate executives by debuting on TikTok and competing in front roll contests, IQ battles, and more. Today, we introduce the stars of Ojisan TikTok.

The appearance of Mr. Morimoto who received a penalty. Sanyo Industrial TikTok.

Sanyo Kogyo, which operates the channel, is a mid-sized company established in 1980. Sanyo Kogyo owns 12 factories nationwide, where they manufacture parts used in Kawasaki motorcycles. They also run a dispatch business that sends workers to these factories. With over 2,000 employees, it is quite a large company to be classified as small or medium-sized. Sanyo Kogyo aims to reach 80,000 employees under the theme of "Creating a world where hardworking people are rewarded."

Despite being a manufacturing-based company, Sanyo Kogyo puts great effort into promoting itself on social media (SNS). Their YouTube channel has 14,000 subscribers, and their TikTok followers exceed 65,000. They have more than 12 videos with over 1 million views. The reason they started TikTok was thanks to a proposal from Director Kosugi. Originally, Sanyo Kogyo was promoting itself through Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), but Kosugi suddenly came into the PR office and shouted, "I want to try TikTok." His idea was that the company should approach what young people feel more familiar with. After some consideration, the two oldest people at headquarters were chosen as the stars?Director Kosugi, 60, and Advisor Morimoto, 75. Thus, "Ojisan TikTok" featuring these two was born.

Sanyo Industrial Official Website. Unlike the atmosphere of TikTok, it promotes the image of a manufacturing company proud of its history. Sanyo Industrial Website.

In fact, their videos are filmed in a casual atmosphere. The head of human resources strategy, the general affairs manager, and the in-house advisor gather to compete in front roll contests on their smartphones or surprise the PR team with whipped cream on their faces. A video imagining a dinosaur appearing at the company and the uncles evacuating has surpassed 3.1 million views. Additionally, Morimoto, who used to be a baseball team pitcher for a long time, regularly uploads videos of pitching and batting practice on the field. Positive comments like "Amazing" and "I want to play baseball with someone like this" keep pouring in. As the videos gained popularity, they even challenged TikTok live broadcasts, holding remote drinking parties with viewers and answering questions in real time. At peak times, up to 1,900 viewers in their 20s and 30s tune in.

Executives of Sanyo Industry participating in a trending challenge on TikTok. Sanyo Industry TikTok.

The promotional effect is said to be tremendous. Most participants in new employee online briefings said they had already seen TikTok videos, and as of 2021, three out of eight applicants said TikTok was the reason they applied. They felt the impression that "If this is the kind of company, it must be flexible enough to respond to the times."

Even though Kosugi and Morimoto recently retired, they had filmed about a year's worth of content in advance, so the broadcasts continue.

This atmosphere continues even after their retirement. Recently, the new CEO even started a "President Radio." The reason for maintaining such a free corporate culture is said to be their philosophy toward manufacturing. Inside the company, the phrase "Let's try what we haven't done" is used like a slogan. The management secret is to allow any employee to propose something they have never tried and to challenge it freely. Debuting as TikTokers and doing live broadcasts were things they had never done in their lives, but because they challenged themselves, they achieved great results.

The image of manufacturing sites, especially Japanese companies, is often vertical and conservative. However, breaking such prejudices and starting casual communication seems to have brought significant changes to the entire company.